UC Berkeley Press Release

BERKELEY — History
graduate student Larissa Kelly is making history — on
prime-time TV — as she racks up
wins and winnings as a "Jeopardy!" contestant.
At the end of her sixth game, which aired Tuesday,
May 27, Kelly had racked up a total of $222,597,
more than any woman in "Jeopardy!" history.

A
fourth-year Berkeley Ph.D. candidate specializing
in 19th-century Mexican history, Kelly, 28, was behind
on Tuesday night when it came to the "Final
Jeopardy!" round, when the contestants were
presented with this answer in the "Films
of the 1950s" category: "The action in
this film begins at 10:30 a.m. and plays out in almost-real
time until 12:15."

One contestant blanked; Kelly
and the third contestant both wrote "What is
'High Noon'?" The game went to Kelly, who had
wagered $801 more. (In some of her previous games,
she grabbed the lead early and widened it.)

Foreign-language
and pop-culture knowledge have served Kelly well
during her "Jeopardy!" career:
in game six she knew the lottery abbreviation "QP"
(answering "What
is 'Quick Pick'?") and the French for "one
of these social blunders, from the French for 'false
step'" ("What is faux
pas?").

Another competitive advantage:
willingness to bet aggressively, and other points
of strategy acquired through intimate familiarity
with the game. Her sister, Arianna, appeared on "Jeopardy!" this
January; her husband, Jeff Hoppes, a fellow UC Berkeley
history grad student, competed in 2004. (Being "strong
in both British and Latin American history," Cal
was "a top choice" for the couple from
the beginning, Kelly says.)